this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8pm: thejustice secretary defends the government potentially breaking international law over changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. this is a collective will on the part of the government not just to prepare for the worst, but also to protect the internal workings of our united kingdom. that is responsible government. concern from care home providers over access to the government's coronavirus testing programme, as infections rise. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision involving several vehicles. the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british—iranian woman jailed for spying in iran — says there's a "confusing game" going on between two governments, and that it's taking a toll on her.

all along, this has been a game of cat and mouse between the british and iranian authorities and they are using has leverage to get any money thatis using has leverage to get any money that is owed to them. that has been triply long time and certainly this past week. sue barker is leaving the bbc‘s a question of sport after 23 years as part of a major shake—up at the programme. 17,000 people have been participating in a virtual version of the great north run, which was cancelled because of the pandemic. and at 8.30pm, the travel show looks back at some of their adventures in turkey — from the barbershops and bazaars of istanbul to a dive site with a difference.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the justice secretary, robert buckland, has defended government plans to potentially override elements of the brexit withdrawal agreement, signed with the european union. the proposal, which would break international law, would give noio the power to change or ignore rules relating to the movement of goods , between britain and northern ireland. mr buckland said it was an emergency brexit "insurance policy" if brussels acted in an "unreasonable" way, by insisting on excessive checks on goods. here's our chief political correspondent, vicki young. a lot‘s changed since brexit day. crowds can no longer gather, but once again the arguments are raging about our relationship with the eu. four years ago, these two former prime ministers campaigned against brexit. today, they criticised the government for making

plans to override parts of the legally binding treaty which laid out the terms of our departure. writing in the sunday times, sirjohn major and tony blair said that was irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice. "it raises questions that go far beyond the impact on ireland, the peace process and negotiations for a trade deal, crucial though they are. it questions the very integrity of our nation". government ministers say it's just an insurance policy in case negotiations with the eu don't work out. we hope very much never to have to use this. it's a "break the glass in emergency" provision if we need it. but they're not denying that giving uk ministers the power to change the withdrawal agreement breaks international law. how could anyjustice secretary stand by and let that happen? is that the moment that robert buckland resigns from the government, if we break international law itself? if i see the rule of law

being broken in a way that i find unacceptable, then of course i will go. we are not at that stage. eu and uk negotiators are working on two things — a future trade deal and the details of unique arrangements for northern ireland, which will continue to follow some eu rules. and here's a sign of how tense things have become. taking to twitter, michel barnier pointed out that borisjohnson had himself agreed to what he called the delicate compromise. david frost complained that the eu's position meant northern ireland might not be allowed to import food from the rest of the uk. ireland's foreign minister angrily dismissed that as spin and said borisjohnson‘s actions were undermining trust. he british government, in my view, is behaving in an extraordinary way, and british people need to know that because outside of britain, where this issue is being discussed now, the reputation of the uk and britain as a trusted negotiating partner on important issues like this is being damaged

in a very serious way. tomorrow, the action returns to parliament. several conservative mps have said they can't support a bill that breaks the law. this all echoes the arguments of a year ago. brexit criticism from lawyers, the eu and former prime ministers is unlikely to change downing street's mind. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. earlier i spoke tojoe mayes, who's uk politics and brexit reporterfor bloomberg, and christopher hope, chief political correspondent and assistant editor at the daily telegraph. i asked them how they think things will play out in parliament this week when the internal market bill is put before mps. key question is whether enough conservative mps will stick with borisjohnson conservative mps will stick with boris johnson and help conservative mps will stick with borisjohnson and help him pass at this internal market bill and it is likely it will be because he has a

significant majority. it has received some support from moderate conservatives but the labour party tends to vote against the bill and proposes an amendment. muchly we do think borisjohnson proposes an amendment. muchly we do think boris johnson has proposes an amendment. muchly we do think borisjohnson has got?|j proposes an amendment. muchly we do think boris johnson has got? i think he has got quite a lot. it is not the same in 2019 october. it feels they seem to many people, i know that, but in truth, i think the number that they are probably in the np side of it, it will be embarrassing, maybe 20 or 30 tory mps might vote against the internal markets bill. what keir starmer does, i'm not sure. he is singing today's sunday telegraph that we need to get past this whole brexit i’ow need to get past this whole brexit row and move on. the big worry though is the lord's and where that plays out and we have not got any timing for that. they may be some real defeats any lower than that

could be a real problem to get this before the end of september. the prime minister is obviously saying that he is trying to keep the uk together, the eu is threatening to break it up. what do you make that argument? we had some pushback from michel barnier and the dup. yeah, so they withdrawal agreement and the northern ireland vertical did effectively establish a customs border in the irish sea and it is what boris johnson signed border in the irish sea and it is what borisjohnson signed up to an agreement because he did not want a bird on the island of ireland so he kept northern ireland in a customs territory with the eu. —— border. it does seem rather strange to be claiming that the agreement threatens the integrity of the uk when that is what he committed to an essence by signing a deal. your son interesting is that, publicly, between michel barnier and david frost over this question of a blockade and the added see claiming that the eu made the set, michel

barnier saying that we did not, david frost singly did not, a public war of words there and it shows attention is now in the talks. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight arejoe twyman — the co—founder and director of deltapoll uk, and the broadcaster yasmin alibhai—brown. a charity that represents care providers in england, says the government's coronavirus testing regime has had "serious problems". it comes just days after the department of health and social care, wrote to care home providers, wrote to care home providers warning of a rise in new coronavirus infections within homes. the letter acknowledged it was mainly staff being affected, but also said some residents are testing positive too. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has more details. in care homes like this one in manchester, they've already had a long, exhausting

fight against coronavirus. in april, they lost nine residents. but with careful infection control like this and increased testing, they've managed to keep it out of the home over the summer. if there's a second wave, quick testing will be vital in identifying people without symptoms and keeping residents safe. but mark adams, who heads a charity that runs 18 uk care homes including this one, says in recent weeks they have had problems getting results in about 40% of their tests. at the moment, we are getting the kits for weekly testing, but the results are coming back five, six or seven days after the test was taken. so if someone does catch covid, they could perhaps be in the building for three or four days without even being aware that they're ill. as the infection rate rises out here in the wider community, inevitably, care homes are going to feel the impact. on friday, the department for health and social care sent a letter to care bosses warning that they were beginning to see

a rise in cases in care homes. the majority were staff who had become infected, but some residents had also contracted the virus. it's also reported in the sunday times today that infections in care homes have quadrupled since the start of the month. as the demand for tests rises in the general population, care providers say it's vital that the care sector is made a priority. i think the testing regime has had serious problems and i really want the government to prioritise care services. we saw at the start of this pandemic that people living in care homes were the most susceptible to the virus, so i hope that they will realise that and start prioritising the testing in care homes. the department of health and social care says it's done everything it can to ensure the safety of residents and staff since the start of the pandemic and that it will publish its winter plan for social care shortly.

alison holt, bbc news. well, the latest government figures show there were 3,330 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 2a hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 3,050. five deaths were reported within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, and that means on average in the last week, 11 deaths were announced every day, taking the total number across the uk to 41,628. major restaurant groups have written to the government asking for an extension of the ban on evicting tenants, which expires at the end of this month. the bosses of deliveroo, burger king and itsu say one in three landlords

are preparing evictions. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision which involved two lorries and a car. the highways agency says the stretch will probably stay closed until tomorrow morning. there's no news yet on whether anyone was hurt in the accident. alice bouverie reports from gloucetershire. in the predawn hour of a quiet sunday morning, a horrible accident on the m5. ray knight was working on his farm and heard it all unfold. it was about 5:40am, got up this morning, put the kettle on to make a cup of tea, opened the back door and then there was a great big bang followed a few minutes later by a second bang. and then my son came down and he just said, there's something strange going on. i said, what do you mean? he said, in the distance, there is black smoke billowing up. i went outside and, about ten minutes later, we heard a third one and,

by that point, you could see the black smoke and there was a glow in the sky which i presume was the fire. the police were called to reports a ford fiesta had come off the motorway. they say a lorry parked behind the car to offer help and protect it, but then it appears a supermarket delivery lorry came up and crashed into the back of the first one which was then destroyed by fire. we don't know the full details of what happened to start this incident so early this morning although there are some marks on the road which suggest that, at some point, a vehicle has veered quite sharply from the middle lane. but what we do know is that the resulting explosions were heard in villages several miles away. the motorway was closed in both directions for over six hours. the southbound carriageway finally opened at midday, the cars led through by traffic officers. because of the damage caused by the fire, highways england says the northbound carriageway will be closed until tomorrow morning

for resurfacing work, sending traffic on a 23—mile diversion. alice bouverie, bbc points west, tredington. teenagers convicted of terrorism in england and wales could receive whole—life terms under sentencing reforms described by the government as the most radical in almost 20 years. currently, a life tariff can only be given to those over the age of 21, but the justice secretary, robert buckland says he plans to reduce this to 18 for exceptional cases, such as terrorism. at least 30 people have now died in wildfires that are engulfing the west coast of america across three states, destroying millions of acres of land. more than 20,000 firefighters, are trying to beat back the flames. 0ur north america correspondent, nomia iqbal, has more details. the fires have been unrelenting. more than a million acres of land have been burned here.

around 40,000 people have left their homes and half a million are under evacuation orders. poor visibility has made it harder to get out, but many have fled to trailer parks where volunteers have been distributing food. but with the fires comes the challenge of covid—19. we want to make sure everybody maintains social distance as much as possible. it's admittedly difficult in this environment, but we're going to try and organise feeding lines and things like that to maintain a six—foot distance. in san francisco, the grey sky has turned hazy orange as the wildfires engulf parts of california. i'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but it's scary. it's scary. one of those things like, you just have to take into consideration that you have to be careful when you're breathing because you could be inhaling the smoke. california has never seen fires on this scale before. dozens have destroyed more

than 3 million acres of land. even fire trucks are being shipped in to help, with the world's largest plane arriving into san francisco, carrying at least three fire engines. the smoke is so thick, it can be seen all the way from space. up close, the devastation is staggering. thousands of homes have been incinerated. some who have returned home here in oregon have been going through the rubble to find their belongings. others guard theirs from potential looters. it's been a rough couple of days, but i just didn't feel right leaving home. president trump will be arriving in california tomorrow. he'll be meeting firefighters as they battle to put an end to fires like these, which have been burning for weeks. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. the headlines on bbc news:

thejustice secretary defends the government potentially breaking international law, over changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. concern from care home providers over access to the government's coronavirus testing programme, as infections rise. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision involving several vehicles. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian woman jailed for spying in iran, has not been taken to court to face new charges as she'd been expecting. the foreign office said it welcomed the deferral of the hearing, and said they "call on iran to make nazanin‘s release permanent so that she can return to herfamily in the uk". nazanin‘s husband, richard, says his wife remains caught in a game of cat and mouse between the iranian and british governments. we were expecting her to be in court this morning, so she was really terrified this

morning before it happened. then she wasn't taken to court, so it was a whole bewildered process of trying to understand what went on. and in fact, as the day's gone on, she was relieved and really angry. they're not quite sure what's going on and, actually, i spoke to herjust now and a bit calmer. but i think, you know, all in all, it's clear that there's a very confusing game between two governments going on and it is taking a toll on her, certainly. do we know what the charges were that were going to be levied against her were? what were the details? so her lawyer got to see the file. her lawyer... so she was taken to see thejudge last week, her lawyer got to see the file and go through it and prepared for the case yesterday with her. the case was spreading propaganda against the regime, so we knew that was coming. he felt confident that it was a very light file, there was nothing of substance in it, so he was confident that he was going to get her off. i think, probably, i was a bit less sanguine. we've had a number of these cases come before us and, obviously, it feels most of the time

like a political stunt, but, you know, we will see what happens when she's next brought into court. how are you doing? yeah, pretty world weary today. i think it's... i mean, ifound this quite hard. you know, it came out of the blue that she was going to be in court on tuesday and the fact that it didn't happen today, we were all worked up and fearing the worst and certainly, she'd been talking about all sorts of panic attacks. and myjob, obviously, is to keep her calm, to keep her hopeful. and, yeah, it's been... it's tough at the moment. richard, you mentioned a political stunt. what what do you mean by that? well, look, i think all along this has been a game of cat and mouse between the iranian authorities and the british government. they‘ re using nazanin as leverage to get the money that the uk owes them. that's been true for a long time. that was certainly true this past week. that doesn't mean to say that there isn't a real court case that comes with a real sentence, but yeah, it's not...

it's not about us, it's about that government fight. ok, so this is money that goes back to a 50—year—old arms contract between britain and iran. the iranian government and the british government have denied that this is what it's all about. what are they telling you? what's the british government, certainly, telling you ? the iranian government doesn't talk to us very much. the british government, i mean, obviously, were in touch quite closely with us the past couple of days to find out what was going on. we had pushed them very hard to say, "listen, if this goes to court trial, you have to insist on being there. you have to insist on your right to consular access". and in fairness, they have pushed quite hard, and over the course of the last few days, they were telling us, "well, we think the case is going to be quite a short trial and then she might not even need to go". and as it transpired, it was postponed. beyond that, i think we will sit down next week and try and understand what on earth is going on.

richard ratcliffe speaking to me earlier. almost a third a all new covid—19 infections across the uk in the last 2a hours have been in the north—west. government figures say there were 3,330 cases recorded, with the region accounting for 906. two of the five deaths were also in the north west. it comes amid warnings tonight that liverpool is facing tighter coronavirus restrictions after a rapid rise in cases in the past 2a hours. yunus mulla reports. for a city on the watchlist, the sight of so many people will lead some to ask questions over social distancing and mixing, but what concerns health officials in liverpool is 100 more cases in the past 2a hours. that's a rate of around 80 per 100,000. other areas have faced tighter restrictions with this kind of infection level. we're heading now towards a city lockdown if we can't reduce those figures, and i think the only way we're

going to do that is everybody doing the right thing, but it may well be too late. from tomorrow, new rules will ban gatherings of more than six from different households. this weekend, everyone isjust going wild, which makes zero sense, but i think that everyone is going wild because they want to have the last party. plenty of couples have got two children, so it's preventing two families getting together. coronavirus isn't going to stop this weekend — it's still going to be here — so why wait until monday? if there's going to be a lockdown, do it now. police forces across the region have been busy responding to calls. here in greater manchester, they were called to more than 3,000 incidents. although not all were covid—related, a number of fines were issued for breaches of coronavirus regulations. in blackpool, the victoria hospital has reintroduced visiting restrictions because of a rise in covid—19 cases locally. with infection rates continuing to rise, expect more restrictions to follow. yunus mulla, bbc news.

parts of west yorkshire have some of the lowest test and trace rates in the country. in bradford, a team of local tracers have been hired. people who have had close contact with someone found to have covid—19 are being traced and asked to isolate. aisha iqbal has been speaking to a leeds woman who lost her father to the disease. catherine knows all about the importance of a proper functioning test and trace system. she lost her father, tony, to the virus and is now campaigning alongside hundreds of bereaved families for a full covid—19 inquiry. we need that really robust test and trace in place to save more people from the same tragedy that has happened to my family. 0ur death rate is the highest in europe and our case numbers are rising. if we had a world—beating test and trace system, our case numbers would not be on the rise. test and trace is, in its essence, quite a simple idea, and it's one which has an absolutely

crucial role in defeating the virus. bradford has now hired a specialist team of local tracers who will also work door—to—door. we're finding that quite a lot of our population are not necessarily engaging as well as we thought with the national test and trace system so, at the minute, we have about 27% of people who test positive not contacted by test and trace, and that's what we call lost to follow—up, and it can go up to more than 50% of people who are contacts of positive cases who were not able to be contacted through the national system. how many times have i asked the government to pay for local test and trace? they seem to be able to find money to pay for a national test and trace very quickly but, when it comes to local authorities, the money is still not there. we shouldn't be having to pay for that as a local authority, which is already stretched in terms of finances. the department of health told us that, since the test and trace service relaunched three months ago, almost 360,000 people have been reached and, where contact details were shared by those testing positive,

87% of their contacts were reached and told to self—isolate. sue barker is leaving the bbc‘s a question of sport after 2a years, as part of a major shake—up at the programme. team captains matt dawson and phil tufnell will also depart the long—running sports quiz show. their final series together will be broadcast next year before the series returns with a new team. let's talk to the entertainment journalist, caroline frost. i was asking around the office what people thought about this on the one thing that came across is that you did not have to be a sports fanatic to enjoy the programme. sure, i think that is key to its very long lasting and broad appeal. certainly, i grew lasting and broad appeal. certainly, igrew up lasting and broad appeal. certainly, i grew up and improperly my age in the bill moment and emily hughes ada

and certainly... i did not have a clue about sport, but i enjoyed the giggles, the camaraderie. i learned more about sport and i would have done otherwise. what did sue barker bring to it? she has been there for 24 years and she is the third presenter of the programme since 1970. that has a cracking run at it. that has a long run. i think people would say that she brought to gentleness, certainly people who are saying, what is going on? this is all change for change's sick today, similarly there were big numbers talking back in 1997 when she took over from david common, talking back in 1997 when she took overfrom david common, why would a woman take this role? clearly she has made it her own. she is a very gentle presence, does not hog the limelight, lets her giggling team ca pta i ns limelight, lets her giggling team captains have their moments. they obviously like to have a laugh and she let them have it. i think she would be what is called, certainly at all of this time, a pair hands and people value very relaxed during and people value very relaxed during an and clearly the teams and the

ca pta i ns an and clearly the teams and the captains do as well —— very relaxed. by captains do as well —— very relaxed. by the need for the revamped? we saw something similar on sky, didn't we? we sort similarly recently. we also have a competing, only so many eye balls. have a competing, only so many eyeballs. people like energy, dynamic action, we have seen a lot of game shows on panel show is becoming quite physical in recent yea rs. becoming quite physical in recent years. i think perhaps this is seen asa years. i think perhaps this is seen as a rather sedate version and certainly does have a dedicated third base, but diminishing ratings, and so many programmes have had over the last few years. i think it is probably no coincidence that it comes at a time when we have at the bbc new director—general intent on making his stand and what he has said is reaching out to a broader britain, representing everybody. it may mean different things to different people, on the one hand he has said, or there is talk of a more right—wing comedy, whatever that is, but certainly a more low—key banter sense of humour and he wants to be a more diverse representative of what

is going on in society so trying to balance those two things, when you look at the panel show in prime time that has middle—aged white faces, then people are going to ask questions the time is right to have a shake—up. 0f questions the time is right to have a shake—up. of course, this could just be politics weighing in on what was a decision anyway to shake up, find a new voice which often just means we want some fresh, young faces. there have been a very mixed reactions to lessen social media. it is the first place you go toe to gauge the mood. that is the risk that if you're going to go young, or go to diverse, you're going to lose that experience that someone like so brought to it because ultimately, you have to know your stuff. —— like sue barker brought to it. that is a place that many, many shows have been sent to pay. it is no change merely to have a change of host. we have seen that with other quiz shows as the years have gone by. it is quite striking because the removal of sue barkerfrom

quite striking because the removal of sue barker from a quite striking because the removal of sue barkerfrom a prime—time quite striking because the removal of sue barker from a prime—time show is the removal of an older female any prime—time audience. at a time whenjenni murray any prime—time audience. at a time when jenni murray is any prime—time audience. at a time whenjenni murray is a living woman's aber, jane garvey is leaving women because my cover, that is a striking absence. i suggest the —— woman's aber. i suggest if focus is other groups being represented more clearly, more upfront but that comes with the lack of experience but i guess that is apparent that the bbc commissioners are willing to take. caroline, it has been a pleasure. i am surei caroline, it has been a pleasure. i am sure i will speak you soon on the paper review. thank you. around 17,000 people have taken part in the biggest half—marathon in the uk, the great north run. but today wasn't the same as usual , with runners choosing their own routes and tracking their progress through an app. stuart whincup reports. it was supposed to be the biggest and the best,

celebrating 40 years of the world's most famous half marathon, but today, the old course looked very different, though the familiar characters were still out pounding the streets. it's not the same as normal years, but it was absolutely brilliant. do you know what it is, i've got a headache from the horns of people's cars, but everybody has come out, there's a steel band up there, amazing! i couldn't believe they were out, but it has just not been the same, but good in a different way. mark knopfler recorded new arrangement of local hero as thousands took to the streets. louise was running her 13th half marathon in 13 weeks.